Michael Jung and his own, Bridgitte, and Joachim Jung’s FischerRocana FST (Ituango XX x Rose II) were the final pair into the ring before the lunch break on the first day of dressage competition at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event and laid down a commanding test for a score of 27.1.
“She was good to ride,” said Jung of the 13-year-old German Sport Horse mare. “She was very concentrated and very relaxed; it was nice. I know her well, I know how I have to prepare her. Then on the competition I don’t have to train her too much, I just keep her nice and relaxed and in a good form . . . I just give her a good feeling, that it’s not really special here, that it’s like normal work and she doesn’t have to be scared about something.”
Boyd Martin and Christine Turner’s 11-year-old Trakehner gelding, Tsetserleg (Windfall x Thabana), currently sit in second place four points behind Jung and FischerRocana FST on a score of 31.2.
Tamra Smith and Wembley (Lester x E-VIP), Kevin Baumgardner's 15-year-old KWPN gelding, round out the top three at the lunch break on a score of 32.1. “He was really good in there, really rideable and relaxed. It was great . . . He’s been really super; that was his best test. He was so good in there, I couldn’t have asked for him to be better.”
Dressage will resume this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. with Elinor MacPhail O’Neal and RF Eloquence first into the Rolex Arena. Full scores can be found here.
Relive Michael Jung and FischerRocana FST's first place dressage test, courtesy of USEF Network.
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Have you thanked your competition management team lately? Here’s your spring season reminder to do just that! Whether you’ll be debuting in the Starter division or cruising around at Advanced, competition management has a lot of moving parts to manage that will ensure a great experience for you and your horse. Keep your competition management team happy and help support the future of eventing with these quick tips from STRIDER.
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